“If no one is guilty, then everyone’s to blame.”
Multi-layered book that tells the story of investigating a cold case from 1970 from the point of view of the investigator herself. Throughout, the author’s voice is clear and plainspoken with evocative but succinct language. This meta storyline only works to bring the reader into the story rather than farther away from it because of its unique mix of artful writing, sharp thinking and honest self-disclosure.
Hailed as a feminist true crime story, I’m also struck by this book’s top-notch investigative journalism: the deep-dive exploration of details, interviews and case files side by side with almost cultural-anthropological notes on relevant current events that give relevant context in which to make sense of those facts, with the author modeling how to put those together by narrating her own thought process.
The author’s journalism chops are particularly apparent in how she artfully, powerfully and succinctly contextualizes the case and the characters’ beliefs and actions vis-à-vis the structural and social context of the time, from the mundane (what movies were showing at the time), to nuances in attitudes about race, gender and relationships. e.g. “At this time the whole country was crackling with protest and civil disobedience… [1954 Brown v Board, 1963 March on Washington, 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1968 King assassination…]. In its wake, rebellions, termed “riots” by the police, shook entire cities — Washington, Chicago, Detroit. But not, it would seem, Cedar Rapids.” (p 81) “I began to think of her as merely a cog in the giant wheel of racism, … blindly pushing it forward… A person who was the product of the people who had raised her and of the culture she witnessed around her, a person who was uninterested in or afraid of questioning the status quo, a status she undeniably benefitted from.” (p 90)
Ultimately, this book is both about What Happened to Paula, and also what didn’t. What does and doesn’t happen to and for all women.
— “Blaming the victim is convenient. It relieves perpetrators from taking responsibility for their actions. It alleviates society from having to examine its own failure to legislate, to protect, and to apprehend, excusing all the ways violence is allowed to go unchecked.” (p 230)
— “Remembering and telling the truth about terrible events are prerequisites both for the restoration of the social order and for the healing of individual victims.” — Judith Herman (p165)
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Reviews with images
Finished it in a day!
I had started reading last week, but only a few pages. I literally read it cover to cover yesterday. It has stirred up so many thoughts and emotions. What a tremendous undertaking. To have all the facets of Paula’s story compiled here was utterly fascinating and had me completely immersed. Then there is the reality of raising my own own girls and everything that entails. The responsibility and fear I feel was so eloquently described, as well as the courage I need. And then the responsibility of raising our son! I tell my husband all the time of how important it is to bring up our boy so he is a safe person, an ally, a good man. He will have all the opportunity and privilege of a white man in this country, and it’s up to us to set him on the proper course. This book was so much more than I had anticipated. You won’t regret picking this one up and disappearing into the story. You will come back changed.
